MUTE TV sound at their best when everything feels as though it might fall apart without ever actually doing so. And on their new single ‘Broken Drum’, the South West three-piece turn relationship tension into a jagged rush of post-punk, noise-pop and alternative rock, balancing melody against abrasion with the kind of chemistry that only really works when a band is playing together in the same room.
Recorded live at The Heavy’s studio inside Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, the track was built around immediacy at every turn. Tim James, Joe Mountain and Ade Poole wanted to preserve the physical energy of three people responding to each other in real time, and that instinct gives ‘Broken Drum’ its restless edge.
The guitars feel sharp and unstable, the rhythm section keeps everything pushing forward, and the vocals carry just enough urgency to make the emotional conflict feel truly believable.
Lyrically, the song deals with the messier reality of relationships. Some relationships matter more than others, but none arrive without difficulty, compromise or friction. And ‘Broken Drum’ lets that tension play out inside the music.
Formed in 2025, MUTE TV have already built an identity around what they describe as noisy love songs about joy, despair and desperation. ‘Broken Drum’ feels like a particularly clear expression of that idea, finding emotional weight in the same space where distortion, momentum and controlled chaos collide.
There are traces of shoegaze atmosphere and post-punk nervousness here, but they’ve never really been interested in neatly separating those influences.
‘Broken Drum’ captures a young band discovering that the imperfections are often where the real chemistry lives. Relationships are difficult. Bands can be too. And MUTE TV make both sound worth the trouble.